Businessperson candidates dominate first phase, multimillionaires 94
Nearly 70 per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of the imminent Upazila Parishad elections are businesspersons, with 94 of them are multimillionaires, said the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Monday.
The number of such multimillionaire candidates has risen by three times than the last Upazila Parishad elections, where 37 had that much money.
TIB presented its analysis of the affidavit of the candidates at a media conference at its Dhanmondi office in the morning.
The anti-graft watchdog informed the media that 17 of the vice-chairman candidates and six of the candidates, vying for the female vice-chairman posts, are multimillionaires.
The number of such rich candidates in the two posts have increased by nearly three times in comparison to the previous elections.
The calculation of wealth has been prepared based on the moveable assets. Since the pricing of land is a complex issue, that is why that has not been included in the calculation, said TIB.
In the first phase of the elections, 560 candidates have been vying for the chairman positions, 611 for vice-chairman posts and 435 candidates have been contesting for female vice-chairman posts. The voting is slated for 8 May.
The TIB analysis reveals that 69.86 per cent of the candidates identified them as businesspersons followed by 11.19 per cent showed them as farmers. Some 6.32 per cent are lawyers and 4.15 per cent of the candidates are teachers.
Likewise, 69.59 per cent of the vice-chairman candidates declared them as tradespersons while 52 per cent of the female vice-chairman candidates showed them as housewives or involved in household tasks. Of the female vice-chairman candidates, 24 per cent, the second highest, are businesspersons.
The domination of the businessperson candidates have been rising gradually in the elections of the local government bodies as was seen in the parliamentary elections, said TIB.
In a reverse picture, the percentage of candidates with housewives or involved in household tasks, agriculturalists and teachers have been dropping.
Kamruzzaman from Gopalganj tops the multimillionaires
Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, who has been contesting the elections for chairman post at Gopalganj Sadar upazila, tops the list of the multimillionaire candidates with the asset of Tk 252.4 million. Anwarul Islam from Kaunia upazila in Rangpur follows him with an asset of Tk 203 million while Atahar Ishraq Shabab Chowdhury is at the third position with moveable wealth equivalent to nearly Tk 190 million.
Atahar Ishraq Shabab Chowdhury is the son of Ekramul Karim Chowdhury, an MP from Noakhali-4 constituency.
Land of 8 candidates cross ceiling
Eight candidates own more land than the ceiling permitted in the law. As per the existing law, a citizen could own 100 bighas or 33 acres of land.
Chairman candidate for the Bandarban Sadar upazila, AKM Zahangir, tops this list with property of 74.27 acres.
Income of Pradip Karbari from Ramgarh surges the most
The income of Biswa Pradip Kumar Karbari, a chairman candidate for Ramgarh upazila in Khagrachhari, has surged the most, about a humongous 3,000 per cent. Income of another four candidates, including two female vice-chairman aspirants, have increased by over 1,000 per cent.
Immovable property of Parvez from Phulchhari increases the most
The immovable property of chairman candidate GM Selim Parvez for Phulchhari upazila in Gaibandha has increased the most (4,251.68 per cent) from the information disclosed during the upazila parishad election in 2019.
Immovable assets of another five chairman, vice-chairman and female vice-chairman candidates saw a rise of over 1,000 per cent.
Besides, the wealth of the wife and dependents of Md. Farid Hasan, chairman candidate from Pangsha upazila in Rajbari district, increased the most, with the percentage point being nearly 12,500.
Top dependents in terms of income surges
The income of Raushan Ara Sarker, female vice-chairman candidate from Kapasia in Gazipur, has seen a huge increase than the information presented to the election commission before the upazila parishad election in 2014. Her income in the last 10 years has increased by over 18,000 per cent.
Reena Parvin, chairman candidate for Gazipur Sadar upazila parishad, is second in the list with 10,074 per cent increase. The income of Mohabbat Ali from Laksham upazila in Cumilla has increased by nearly 3,500 per cent over the last 10 years.
The income of the people’s representatives at the upazila parishad level increased by highest 18,000 per cent in the last 10 years while the MPs saw an increase in their assets by highest 20,192 per cent in the last 15 years, the TIB informed the media from the conference.